Beginning in 2005, The African Queen and I enjoyed Section 320 at RFK Stadium. Our Washington Nationals and the Nats320 Blog came to life for us there. Since 2008-we've sat in Section 218 at Nationals Park, but our blog name has not changed. Our roots are in Nats320-and we will never forget those good times. But, as always, we will attempt to provide fun, information and commentary about Our Washington Nationals. All photos, unless otherwise attributed-COPYRIGHT Nats320--ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

How Do You Know--Washington D.C. Premiere

Last night, Sohna and I attended the Washington Premiere of the movie "How Do You Know" at the Landmark E Street Cinema in NW Washington. Held to benefit The Washington Nationals Dream Foundation, the James L. Brooks comedy/love story features actor Owen Wilson playing a relief pitcher for Our Washington Nationals and includes a few segments filmed at Nationals Park during the summer of 2009.

The special red carpet event benefitted Washington's Baseball Team's charitable arm. The Washington Nationals contributed 10% of any new 2011 Season Ticket purchased or 5% for any renewed Season Ticket last night toward The Dream Foundation. Cocktails and Hors D'Ouerves were served between 6:30PM & 7:30PM in the Cinema lobby as a few hundred guests mingled and chatted.

Marla Lerner Tanenbaum, Chair of The Washington Nationals Dream Foundation, and Andrew Feffer, COO of Our Washington Nationals spoke to the audience before the premiere began. We had a good time attending, but the movie itself wasn't the best. Sohna and I are not movie critics, but the script just didn't flow well. And most of the Nationals Park scenes were either edited down or eliminated entirely from the movie.

You might recall, a few hundred Washington Season Ticket Holders and Fans were selected as extras in the film. Scenes were shot at the South Capitol Street Ballpark using the left-field bullpen, the clubhouse training room and for a walking scene across the field. Unfortunately, just a very small portion of the actual film shot at Nationals Park made the final cut. A very long scene in the bullpen was drastically reduced--including a sidebar love story between a Japanese Pitcher and a fan in the stands. The walking shot wasn't used at all and Principal Owner Mark Lerner told Sohna and I after the premiere that a scene he participated in inside the clubhouse training room, unfortunately, was edited with his cameo out as well.

We really wanted to see more baseball in the flick, but that turned out to not be the case. In fact, the entire baseball scene in How Do You Know can be watched in one of the movie trailers. It's a scene where Owen Wilson is daydreaming in the bullpen and he wakes up as Washington's leftfielder leaps up onto the wall to snare a drive going over the fence. If you freeze frame that scene, you might recognize some regular fans of Nationals Park jumping up and cheering.

Also, co-star Reese Witherspoon is seen in the movie, at times, wearing pink Curly "W" matching hoodies and sweatpants. A gift from Owen Wilson who stocks all the ladies sizes of these garments in his bachelor pad-- said in the film to be located at the corner of 15th & I Streets, NW. Although much of the film was actually shot in Philadelphia.

The How Do You Know Premiere was for a good cause and you can still support The Washington Nationals Dream Foundation by donating today. Just go to www.nationals.com/dream.